The Department of Corrections enforces the sentences and orders of the criminal courts.
The Department's work holds offenders to account for their actions and improves public safety in two main ways:
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By ensuring offenders comply with their sentences Corrections protects the community from those threatening its safety.
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Corrections works to rehabilitate offenders, thereby reducing re-offending and leading to fewer victims of crime in the future.
Underlying this is the commitment that to succeed overall, Corrections must succeed for Māori offenders.In the 2007/2008 financial year Māori made up approximately half of the offenders dealt with by Corrections.
Corrections’ kaupapa is
Kotahi ano te kaupapa; ko te oranga o te iwi
(There is only one purpose to our work; it is the wellness and wellbeing of the people)
Corrections’ main work includes:
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Running New Zealand’s 20 prisons
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Managing offenders on community-based sentences and orders such as Home Detention and Community Work
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Providing reports and information on offenders to the courts to assist judges in sentencing decisions
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Providing administrative services to the Parole Board as well as information to help the board decide whether offenders should be released and under what conditions
Corrections does not:
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Arrest or sentence offenders
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Decide whether someone accused of a crime is remanded in prison
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Decide when a prisoner is released
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Set conditions for a community-based sentence
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Collect fines
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Normally manage offenders under the age of 17
